Elina Svitolina drops Sara Errani in straight sets

Elina Svitolina serves up a shot to Sara Errani during thier second round match at the BNL Internazionali D'Italia.

Elina Svitolina sped quickly in the first but slowed down in the second set to win at the BNL Internazionali D’Italia on Friday night. A fast first-set win was slowed down by Sara Errani, who gave it her best but lost in straight sets 6-0, 6-3 on Pietrangeli Court at the Foro Italico. 

The two-time champ drew the tough Italian to take on in her home country. Having never beaten her before left the mom with much to battle for in her tenth appearance. Errani got plenty of action in the opening round, taking down Amanda Anisimova in three sets. The tennis vet wanted to rally big in front of her fans and send Svitolina packing for the third time, but Svitolina was more than hungry for back-to-back wins, having not had a pair since Dubai. 

The Ukrainian scored a break to love to open the match against Errani, who didn’t impress early on her serve. Svitolina saw a challenge on serve in the second from the Italian but managed to avoid any breaks from being produced. She captured the double break and coasted through the next three games, achieving the triple break of Errani. She played three set points before taking it on the final one, completing 29 minutes of tennis in the set. Though she outscored the 37-year-old 27-13, there was still plenty of tennis left to play. 

Errani made that clear in the first three games, putting the brakes on Svitolina, who struggled to counter in the first. She slipped up in the second, handing the break to Errani, who suffered a break back to love in the third. The fourth was their most competitive of the match, going to deuce, where they spanned four breaks. The Ukrainian took the victory and converted a break in the fifth. She took the next two games, scoring the double break, and tried serving things out in the eighth. 

Errani turned the tables and gave herself a chance to break Svitolina to love. The 16th seed denied her that opportunity, but she still had two breakpoints to save. Svitolina forced deuce but went to four breaks until she got a second match point on a wide return. She got it on a line drive that brought her day to a successful end after 1 hour and 18 minutes.  

Victoria Azarenka overcomes numerous double faults to win at the Italian Open

Victoria Azarenka playing in her first round match at the BNL Internazionali D'Italia.

Victoria Azarenka came from a disastrous second set to be victorious at the BNL Internazionali D’Italia on Friday. The former world number one committed nine double faults and needed six match points to beat Magda Linette 6-7(5), 6-4. 6-3 on Court 12 at the Foro Italico. It marked the third straight match the two players went the distance. 

The two veterans met for the sixth time and the first to come on clay. The 34-year-old didn’t have things go well in Madrid, suffering a straight sets loss to Sorribes-Tormo in the second round. Despite her early success on the green courts of Charleston, Azarenka’s 14th entry into the open makes her ready as always to compete. The Pole managed great control in her straight sets win against Zhu, opening the door to potentially leveling the series with the former world number one. 

Linette opened the scoring, holding Azarenka to a point on serve. The 24th seed was forced to deuce in her service game but denied her opponent a break chance. She turned things around, breaking Linette on serve in the third, but three more breaks of serve occurred thereafter. By the seventh, the 32-year-old notched her second service hold, taking the lead near the business end of the set. 

Azarenka managed to follow suit in the eighth and break Linette for the lead, setting herself up for a chance at the set. Double faults continued to be a problem for the 34-year-old, opening the door for Linette to counter. The Pole took advantage of the breakpoint chances and scored the key to level at five-all. Linette gained an important hold of serve in the 11th, waiting for the other shoe to drop and take the set. Azarenka tightened up her forehand serves and aggressively took the shots to her opponent. 

It was the best output of the match that took her into a first-set tiebreak with the 32-year-old. The two traded off six points to start the competition until Linette dug deep to take control. Her shots got the best of Azarenka, who struggled to rally back from tough moments and the crowd working against her. The 32-year-old bested the 24th seed, taking the set in one hour and nine minutes. The biggest difference maker was the shocking seven double faults that Azarenka racked up in the opening set. Despite having a better output of first-serve points won, the service of the 24th seed proved devastating. 

It didn’t get better for the 34-year-old, who notched her eighth but held the opening game of the second set. Linette pulled off a shutout in the second and watched Azarenka mark her ninth double fault of the match in the third. The Pole took advantage of the mistake and broke Azarenka for the early lead. 

The 24th seed broke back and stayed in touch with Linette to the eighth game. The problems with the serve smoothed out enough for her to take the lead in the ninth and force Linette further into the match. A push against the Polish veteran in the tenth gave Azarenka the momentum to break the 32-year-old and take the second set after 49 minutes on the court. Linette took a medical timeout to deal with a blister she got on the right hand during the sit-down. 

Once the MTO was complete, the players got into the deciding set with Azarenka leading the way from her serve to love. Linette struggled to get her serve locked down in the second, going a break with Azarenka before clinching it. The 34-year-old notched a second service game and watched her opponent completely fall apart in the fourth. It was there that Linette committed three double faults on serve. An error handed Azarenka the break, who took care of business in the fifth on serve. 

The 24th seed captured the double break on the Pole, who was out of sorts from the amazing performance she had earlier. With the Polish veteran all but out of the competition, Azarenka took her comfort and played out the points until she achieved match point on a ball landing long from Linette. An error from the 34-year-old brought the score to deuce where Linette saved three match points. Azarenka blew a fourth match point and after five breaks to deuce, Linette went on to take the game away for the break. 

The Polish star held serve in the eighth but Azarenka was through letting opportunities slip away. She jumped to a fifth match point on a bad error from Linette but suffered another setback. Azarenka was relieved when a shot from Linette barely landed wide of the baseline, giving her the win that did not come easy after 2 hours and 51 minutes. 

Ostapenko defeats Potapova in straight sets at Italian Open

Jelena Ostapenko plants herself in place for the return during her first round match at the BNL Internazionali D'Italia. 

Jelena Ostapenko dug in late to move forward at the BNL Internazionali D’Italia on Friday. The 26-year-old broke ahead in the sixth game of the second set, defeating Anastasia Potapova 6-4, 6-2 on Pietrangeli court at the Foro Italico. 

The two met last year on grass in an epic semifinal that went the distance and saw Ostapenko step closer to winning the title. The Latvian’s run on clay hasn’t been up to par with what she is capable of. Her losses at Stuttgart and Madrid were tough exits, but with Roland Garros looming, the 26-year-old needed Rome to be her best foot forward. Potapova was out in two rounds at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and in Madrid. She also wanted something good to come out of her second appearance in the Italian capital. 

The Latvian opened service and built a serve to love against Potapova until a line drive return changed the scoring. The 23-year-old rallied to force deuce only to give Ostapenko the point needed to hold serve. Potapova achieved the service to love in the second, showing her skill to fend off break points. Ostapenko improved her game in the third until Potapova committed the first double fault. The Latvian jumped on the breakpoint opportunity in the fourth to lead 3-1. 

The 26-year-old battled on serve to fight off Potapova’s push to break the ninth seed, widening the gap in scoring. By the eighth game, Ostapenko’s grip loosened, as the 23-year-old tied two games together, frustrating the Latvian. The ninth seed rallied back to hold in the ninth and pushed Potapova deep into her service game in the tenth until a set point clinched the match lead for the Latvian. 

It was a 49-minute bout between the two with Ostapenko committing one double fault, while her opponent notched three. They both played evenly on offense but the leverage went alongside the ninth seed, who produced strong results in the second set. 

Ostapenko rallied on serve and took advantage of Potapova’s double fault in the second game. The third didn’t go to the path for the ninth seed, who missed game point three times, missing by inches. It led the two to play five breaks, with Potapova taking her third break point chance to get on the board. The games stretched out longer in the second set, causing Ostapenko problems on serve, but the ninth seed broke back in the fourth. 

Potapova denied another service hold for Ostapenko, maintaining her reach on the ninth seed. A fifth break gave the ninth seed leverage to battle on and try to outduel her opponent. In the seventh, Ostapenko got the job done on serve, leading 5-2 after two breaks at deuce. In the eighth, Ostapenko needed three match points to close out Potapova in 1 hour and 37 minutes.